Well Halloween was wondering what to read and though oh I ll reread the Hound of the Baskervilles it is a short book and can be easily read in a day ,Now this was my first reread since my early twenties of this book ,I first read under the covers as a ten-year old ,this time I was struck by a number of things ,the cleverness of the writing using diary ,and telegrams as different chapters .The way Doyle built up the moor as a character in itself ,dark sorrowful and full of mystery .The other thing I had in my head was a spinning wheel of the versions of this book I ve seen on dvd and film from Basil Rathbone ,Peter Cushing ,Jeremy Brett and their sidekicks ,at different points in the book I had a different Holmes in my mind’s eye .one my favourite lines is .
why should a man walk on tiptoe down the alley ?
he was running ,watson -running desperately ,running for his life ,running until his heart burst and fell dead upon his face .
running from what ?
there lies our problem .there are indications that the man was crazed with fear before ever he began to run
how can you say that ?
I m not going to mention much on the story I think most people know the story SIR Charles Baskerville ,dies under strange circumstances ,his nephew comes to england ,there is a myth of an evil curse of a demon hound on the Baskerville family ,Watson goes the Baskerville seat in devon on the dark moors ,e
he meets the locals reports to Holmes ,then Holmes comes into the picture again and there is a shocking climax ! .Watson is the main character in most of this book ,he comes across as an able doctor ,a fairly observant man and a prefect sounding board for Holmes ,Watson’S view is very black and white he is the parts that Holmes character doesn’t have ,compassion ,able to interact with people more openly .well as ever I loved this book it is a true classic in crime lit and the best of the Holmes novels .Now as I said I imagined the different film versions ,I think the best of them is Jeremy BNretts it is in many ways nearest the novel ,but can recommend the Ian Richardson version as it has Brian Blessed ,doing what he does best shouting .
HAVE YOU READ THIS ?
DO YOU LIKE ANY OF THE FILM VERSIONS ?
I havent read it yet Stu, took it with me to the castle and it was too creepy there to read anything mysterious! But its on my list. I have only seen the Cushing and Rathbone versions and love them both.
I love rathbone he and brett always form my view of holmes as a person ,all the best stu
I have to admit, I’ve never read anything by Doyle, but my book club chose this to be our October read next year, so I’m looking forward to it!
I’ve read the book, but haven’t watched any films. Maybe I’ll have to search for one!
Yes, I’ve read it, quite a story, isn’t it? 😉 I’ve seen 3 film versions of Hound: Jeremy Brett’s, the 2002 with Hart and Richardson, and the Russian one. Each one’s unique…Jeremy Brett had said he wished he could redo the Hound, as they had multiple areas which caused them problems (health, finances, etc.) during filming, but it’s still good. Russian version’s Hound has quite a few comedy moments inserted. The 2002 BBC one is different…much darker, I thought–I mean, Stapleton’s wife is found dead, Watson gets shot…things like that. I also didn’t like that they made Mortimer elderly in the 2002 BBC version.
And since you say you’ve enjoyed Jeremy Brett’s portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, I thought you might be interested in this site: http://www.bafta4jb.com
great site ,I felt the 2001 version via to far from the orginal story and some of the characters seem miscast ,all the best stu
I’ve see the Rathbone version and it didn’t move me. Thee was always something less than percise about Rathbone. He seemed to lack an intensity. I never saw the Bret version. I think that was in one of my periodic TV voids. I’ll have to check it out since he is my favorite.
the brett is the best I also grew up watching the rathbones ,but have a soft spot for his films ,all the best stu